Story By: John Feng, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Asia Wire Report
AsiaWire
This touching footage shows a front-line medical worker in China seeing his newborn daughter for the first time through a video call even though he and his wife are in the same hospital.
Doctor Luo Chen, who is head of the infectious diseases department at Shaoyang Central Hospital in China’s central province of Hunan and who is currently quarantined, has not been able to see his wife and daughter since the outbreak happened.
He was also not present for the birth despite working just 1,000 feet away.
Doctor Luo’s daughter was born on 19th February, but his work treating and studying those infected with the deadly Wuhan coronavirus – now officially called COVID-19 – meant he could not safely leave his part of the facility.
He and his colleagues will remain isolated in the infectious diseases department, eating, sleeping and working there until the government announces an official end to emergency measures aimed at suppressing the viral outbreak.
Images show the medic dressed in full hazmat gear video-calling his wife to see the newborn girl.
Because of Doctor Luo’s position, he was one of the first to take part in efforts to combat the novel coronavirus.
He has been working in the hospital’s quarantine zone since January.
The medic told local media: “I will need to wait a bit longer, until the situation with the outbreak stabilises, before I can meet her.
“We’d already thought of a name for our child before. We wanted to call her Luo Yue.”
Doctor Luo promised his wife he would do extra chores and take care of their daughter when he is finally able to leave the quarantine area and go home.
COVID-19 has so far killed 2,236 people in mainland China and 11 others around the world.
The number of patients confirmed to have been infected worldwide is more than 76,700, but the same records only 18,466 recoveries thus far.
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